I wear both a pump and a CGM (although I often carry my CGM in my purse). Good news though: my doctor told me that Animas and Dexcom are working together to make a joint system so that you only need one device. I know Minimed has a CGM/pump combo but I hated that one so I'm looking forward to the Aminas/Dexcom union. Hopefully they will come out with it soonish.
Terry, that's exactly what I do even when my husband is home. I lean against a wall corner until it pinches the skin up and then insert....I don't trust anybody with that inserter but my own hand! :)
With the accuracy of current CGM technology, CGM is really most useful for keeping you from being way to high or way to low. That is where most the improvement comes. If you have a reasonable A1c without going low, then you may not benefit all that much, especially after you have used it a while and learned your patterns. However, I think that as the technology improves (e.g. 5 years down the road) CGM of some kind will be indispensable for a type 1.
I wear the Navigator and Omni on the same arm as much as i can. This helps with sleep and not getting caught when dressing !!
I would not give up my pump it corrects my nighttime BG, without the pump I would spend many sleepless nights battling low BG and nasty rebounds.
And I would wear a tool belt like Batman before I gave up my CGMS.
Wow, I am really surprised by the responses! I don't have a CGM and I don't want a CGM. My reasons are that I feel I would be too obsessive about looking at it all the time (I have never worn a watch for the same reason), I hear they aren't accurate for realtime numbers only trends and yes, one thing to change and wear is quite enough. But I respect how many people seem to value them.
All that being said, I still expected that even people who really loved their CGM's would give it up before their pump! I mean I think of my pump as a basic insulin management system that is as far beyond shots as the car beyond the horse and buggy! And while CGM's seem to give people security and meaningful data, well, that still seems like an extra not a basic! I'm really surprised! But what do I know, ever having had a cgm.
your comment about obsessivly looking at the CGM is very true, I find myself constantly looking at it. However I find it comforting, since I would be wondering about where my BG is trending anyhow, so being able to see it takes away much of the constant nervous feeling and stress about being T1. I have used both Medtronic and Dexcom, I found the MM to be very inacurate and not useful for realtime or forward looking decisions, but I have found that the Dexcom is normally very accurate and I do trust it for forward looking decisions.
I haven’t had the accuracy problems a lot of people have w/ the MM units but I really like the CGM a lot. It’s helped me tighten my control a shade and also helps a lot in terms of running.
While I love pumping and don't want to give up either my pump or my Dexcom, my pump won't tell me what's going on with my bg in between finger sticks. My Dexcom shows me that I'm dropping 5 points every 5 minutes so if my intent is to stay flat, I can ward off a low with just a few grams of carb without being surprised by a low.
A fingerstick will give you the same values but you would have to test multiple times over a period of time and burn lots of test strips to find out how fast you're dropping.
Same thing with highs. My Dexcom wakes me (and my husband and the puppy too) if I go high while sleeping. My pump can't do that. So I can correct at 3am instead of waiting until my alarm goes off at 5am.
That's the value of the cgm over the pump, to me. The ability to intervene proactively and quickly.
Zoe compared a pump as being far beyond shots as a car is to horse and buggy. To me, the same can be said for the cgm versus a finger sticking only regimen. In both cases, both accomplish the same basic function. But one in a more accurate, advanced manner producing more data.
Obsessive here too.
God, I just love it. You can even tell when an infusion site is slowing down.
It's a weird interim advance in control. It's not any different to results you could get from finger tests if you tested like crazy.
It's just automatic, and continuous.
I remember watching on an English show called Top Gear about how he once saw two kids on the from of a moving car in a 3rd world country, one pouring in water at the top of a radiator, and one collecting it at the bottom, in a break neck attempt to keep the car engine from overheating.
I feel like the glucose monitor is like a functioning radiator on our cars in a time where we all had to sit on the front and manually do it.
We all got used to manually doing it, so we know we can, and could even go back if our new automatic radiator vanished, but personally I don't want to.
I have read comments standing both right and left of my position.
To re iterate; I have both pump and Dexcom cgm. 100% covered on both. My problem is that I am bored to carry the 2 of them- actually i did for about a month and half. I also think that the cgm gives me far too much data than i need and it has turned me from someone who wants to take care of my body to being obsessive with what number I have.
Having said all that, I will resume using pump/cgm when the 2 technologies are merged into one with one hole punched into my body.
By the way, dexcom wrote me to say that my next 3 months supply is ready- i am in battle with myself weather to go for it or not. Ultimately i know i will ask them to send the supply. I may start giving them out before they expire
Hey if you need a break, take it.
I was a little sick of it too, and then my ordering screw ups happened and I found I felt horribly in the dark without the CMG and I had just grown used to it.
When I finally got the sensors back it was like a breath of fresh air. Now I don't feel so inhibited.
There seemed to be a kind of usage shock bump for me to get over I guess. I think I had something similar with the pump itself, where I would keep bumping it against things or dropping it when I used the bathroom.
I guess I still feel pretty liberated when I disconnect the pump to shower or whatever, but it isn't as pronounced as it once was. I think I went through and passed absolutely hating both of them, and now I'd fight to the death to keep both.
Take the break and see how you feel?
I wear them both on a double spi belt kinda thing. Not a big deal.
I have 2 T1 kiddos and both have OmniPod and Dex. They do not like to wear the Dex all the time because they don't like having to keep up with 2 things and have 2 insets. We have them wear Dex if they are going to camp, or if their BG have been really wacky so we can make better informed changes. I'd say they probably each only wear Dex one week a month.
that may be a good idea
I asked this question in June: "will you prefer to have a CGM or a pump and is there anyone who forgo a CGM when a pump arrives?"
I stopped using my dexcom when i got a pump. I promised to resume using the CGM if my H1C comes back not good. Yesterday I got my result and It's good at 6.6.
I will not resume using a CGM until one of the manufacturers can efficiently integrate the 2 systems. I am convinced that carrying 2 diabetic management system is not for me. (remember that I have to carry a cellphone and a wallet still) I have chosen one and that's the pump. What do you guys have to say to my decision?
The Animas Vibe is available in Europe, and it combines the Animas insulin pump with the Dexcom CGM in one package. I hope the FDA approves it soon! In the meantime, I wear the Animas Ping and the Dexcom CGM. I wouldn't know what to do without both of them.
Seems I'm in the minority here. I had a Minimed and Medtronic CGM. I still love the pump, but life is easier without the CGM. It got expensive, and took up too much real estate. I find it easier and better just to take more finger sticks. I keep hearing good things about the Dexcom, but have no desire.
Seems as though you may not miss it?
Do you feel it taught you anything about your control and management? It's one argument I've heard before; that once the information is learned and control adjusted with that knowledge, for a certain type of user, usage of the CGM isn't as needed after the first 'wave'.
Whadyathink?
I think I said it before somewhere, but for me, with my awful work hours and constantly changing schedule...I'm not going to be able to glean a whole lot of patterns in control that can help me. I simply need to use the hell out of my CGM and adjust on the fly, and as such it works very well.
I have been using the Dex CGM for 2.5 years. Not a severe low since I began.
Have never had a pump! I feel it would be cumbersome and still subject to human error. My pen needles are so tiny now, too. I can easily remember when they looked like mini-harpoons.
No offense intended, but to me a pump is little more than an easier way to give yourself insulin, but more hardware.
My last A1c was 6.3%. I'll be receiving my new lab result in a day or so.
I have always insisted my doctor's office send me a copy of lab results. After 60 years as a T1 these become most interesting.